Scaling
down the role
of former-Iraqi opposition groups by
reinstating the term 'authority'
instead of 'government', which the Baghdad
conference had adopted. This may represent a more
realistic political outlook for the short-term since
an interim government is unlikely to succeed in
the current situation, however it does not address
the issue of true representation which remains unattended
to.

The
resignation
of Clare Short confirms that there will be
no political role for the UN. The immense bureacracy
that engulfed the UN political reconstruction of Kosovo
and Bosnia and the fact that it lacks the mechanisms
for political reconstruction makes it unlikely that
it can have any role in the political reconstruction
of Iraq.

The
ending of UN sanctions came a step closer as a deal
was reached with Germany over the draft UN
Resolution and a deal
with France looking optomistic. However,
Russia
remains the biggest obstacle to the resolution
since it is set to lose billions of dollars worth of
contracts that it had with Saddam Hussein. The G8 holds
off from demanding Iraq repayments, freezing the debt
until 2005, easing the country's path to economic recovery.

The
feared Cholera
outbreaksubsides
as WHO
is no longer worried about an epidemic in
Iraq. This shows that Iraq's health system is more resilient
than originally thought, which, if reflected more generally
in Iraq, can be a good sign for the future.